


LoK Reboot Journal

by Flamedude



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Announcement, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Freeform, Journal update, Reboot series (Legend of Korra), legend of korra - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25773454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamedude/pseuds/Flamedude
Summary: Not a fanfic, but it is related to Fanfiction in some regard.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5
Collections: Updates





	1. Announcement

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M7nzml-zZ9M

Yes, I'm back... And it only took me a couple years!

Anyway, time for me to get some things outta the way:

My unfortunately long absense is due to not only my needing to earn my degree (which I managed to successfully do back in 2018), but also because I needed a job that would provide me at least a modicum of income until I could get started on the career of my choice. As one could imagine, I had a lot of things on my mind as a result of life outside of the Internet getting in the way; which more or less gave me writer's block on whatever I may have had planned from a couple years back.

Naturally, the recent epidemic that's been going on for the past few months this year hadn't exactly done much to put that at ease.

Although... There is a flipside...  
~~~~

A couple months back, I recently revisited the Avatar franchise, thanks to A:TLAB being aired on Netflix fueling my nostalgia.

Naturally I revisited The Legend of Korra, only to find, to my surprise, that it was nowhere near as good I remembered.

Granted, I still like Korra as a character (probably helped that my school boy crush on her that formed when the series premiered back in 2012 is still somewhat lingering... XD), but I've found myself preferring the first season far more than seasons 2-4, due to how incredibly sloppy the writing was.

I then learned Bryke and the crew were essentially working on crunch time as a result of the executives of Nickelodeon leading them to believe that they would only get one season that acted as a stand-alone series, and only gave them more than the one season after the first was finished. Meaning that the show, as a whole, never had an actual plan to begin with, unlike with its predecessor. What's even worse is that they didn't even get the majority of the writers from A:TLAB, including Aaron Ehasz (who was the headwriter, as well one of the main contributing factors behind the show's success).

As a result of what I just described? LoK had severe issues plaguing it in the long run:

1.) Pacing that was rushed and made plot elements underdeveloped as well as incohesive.

2.) Contradictions to the lore established in A:TLAB (not even just in the second season, there were other contradictions to be found in seasons 1, 3, and 4).

3.) Not having an actual overarching story or a central main villain like with its predecessor.

4.) Characters suffering from the "Worf Effect" just to make villains more credible than they had any right to be as a means of plot convenience no matter how contrived it was (Korra is one of the biggest victims of this).

5.) Practically no showing of what life was like for the Gaang after the war.

6.) Soap opera esque melodrama and romance that either piled on angst to the point of apathy or created a forced and contrived means of tension and conflict that wasted time (the love triangle between Mako, Korra, and Asami included).

7.) Beloved characters like Sokka and even Aang getting crapped on.

8.) Little to no **legitimate** character development.

9.) Having characters that didn't even need to be on the show. This includes Meelo, Tenzin's siblings, the villains from seasons 2-4, Varrick, Raava, Avatar Wan, and so on.

10.) Time skips that added onto the pacing issues. For a slightly more elaborate explanation on why timeskips can be a problem, I recommend checking out this video (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oPltWgY8dvo).  
-

I could go on, but there are plenty of other people out there that have made their issues with the show known.

Now, don't mistake this as me saying the show is outright bad. On the contrary, I actually believe that the show had a mountain of potential, to the point where it could've been every bit as good as A:TLAB. Heck, maybe it could've even surpassed it in some ways!

Problem is, the show's potential was stifled by a combination of the Nick Execs' decisions and the weird (and frankly idiotic) choices made in both the writing and story direction that resulted from the show having this poorly paced "make stuff up as we go along" approach to its storytelling.

If the show simply had a plan from the beginning, gotten all the writers of A:TLAB back,  
and was given vastly more time and more seasons (the latter especially from the get go) to carefully go through multiple drafts until they crafted a legitimite overarching story that was pitch perfect? Than it very likely wouldn't have the issues that plagued the original version.

Much like A:TLAB, it could've had a focused, overarching story spanning the entire series with a central main villain and conflict (benders vs nonbenders) that took place over the course of a few months and thus allow the story and characters to be given more to do without fear of either rushing or dragging things out. Heck, it could've even delved further into the teachings/concepts found in both Chinese martial arts as well as Eastern philosphy (which I believe is another aspect from its predecessor that LoK was missing).

It's clear that the show NEEDS to be rebooted. I'm not even talking about a live action reboot like the A:TLAB reboot that Bryke is making and planning to air on Netflix. I'm talking about a legitimate reboot that's not only kept animated, but fixes every issue (whether big or small) that the original version had, so that it can live up to its potential and be done the proper Avatar-y way.

Unfortunately, considering that Bryke isn't making any new Avatar plans outside of the live action reboot coming to Netflix? It's more than likely they aren't even planning on going back to give it another go at LoK...  
-

Thankfully, this all gave me the inspiration to come up with a Reboot of LoK (in fanfic form). In fact, I've been planning out this reboot since May-June so that I can absolutely make sure that you dear readers can enjoy it, just as much as I hope to find it satisfactory.

I can promise it'll have changes that I hope can vastly improve on the original version. I'm not going to list every change that I'm planning so far, but I'm willing to list at least a few of them. Keep in mind, considering what the creative process is like, one idea I may have to put in the story might be scrapped if it doesn't fit. Either way, here's some major changes to the original LoK version that I know for sure will be important to keep in the reboot:

1.) The reboot as a whole will span 3 books, taking place over the course of a few months or so; with the Equalists acting as the collective main villains of a main overarching story. As such, I've given this particular storyline a name:

"The Equalist Saga".

The first reason for the Equalists being the primary antagonists is simple; I find that they were not only unique as a concept, but they actually had **far** more potential than any of the other villains from the original version of LoK, since they show that major villains in the Avatar-verse don’t need to be benders or even have powers to be a serious threat in their own right. The second reason is because I generally find them to be very fitting as the collective big bad, considering the steam-punk aesthetic of Republic City (plus, having characters with powers go up against villains that rely on technology and fighting dirty makes for an interesting contrast). Third, by keeping them on and acting as the primary threat for the entire 3 book story, it allows the storytelling as a whole to have much more focus, coherence, and development in its structure.

After all, A:TLAB never needed to have one big bad per book to fight during its run, it really only needed just **one** overarching big bad (Firelord Ozai) and that’s it. So logically, if it worked for A:TLAB, then it would've worked out just fine for the original version of LoK if they'd done that, especially if more time and thought were put into the story instead of being overly focused with making it different from its predecessor, which I believe was another factor that lead to the issues that the show had. So of course, with that in mind, it's for the best that my reboot's storyline is given a 3-act structure (the first book acting as the beginning, the second book as the middle, and the third as the end) and a single main villain for the arc. That way, the entire reboot series as a whole will have a more coherent direction to go in when it comes to the storyline and character development.

2.) Certain characters will have their personalities tweaked/reworked so that they not only are more befitting to them, but they'll allow for more interesting development.

Before anyone asks, yes, Korra will be amongst those characters. That's not to say she won't be a tomboy I certainly wouldn't wanna change that; but rather than being the exact opposite of Aang, her personality will instead be more of a reflection of the 12 years of training under the White Lotus as well as the three elements she mastered before learning air; same thing with having the finesse, precision, and level of mastery she'd logically have from those 12 years. Personality wise, she'll be adaptable and level headed ('keeping her cool' in other words) as a master waterbender should be, stubborn yet patient as a master earthbender should be, and passionate/aggressive yet tempered with discipline as a master firebender should be.

In other words, Korra will actually be allowed to be a badass on the same level of Samurai Jack, with no nerfing or pesky Worf Effect to get in the way. ;)

I understand not wanting her to be a Mary Sue (and I do plan to avoid having her be that), but that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow her to have personality flaws that didn't even make sense for her to have in the original series(like being impulsive or hot tempered and so on) when the kind of upbringing and training she logically would’ve had is brought into account, nor will I allow her to be arbitrarily weakened for the sake of having a villain seem more threatening than they have any right to be. In my opinion, that kind of lazy and contrived writing was one of the biggest mistakes that the writers ever made during the original version’s run, and it’s a mistake that must be corrected.

3.) The tensions between benders and nonbenders will be kept as an important story element throughout the entire series as a whole. That way, it’ll be MUCH more fleshed out compared to how it was executed in the original version.

4.) There will be no Avatar Wan, Raava, or Vaatu. Their existence and origins completely and utterly contradicted the lore established in A:TLAB. Plus, the tale of the very first Avatar would've been better off done as a special full length movie/prequel-series, since it'd undoubtedly have a LOT of lore and story to unpack. A lot of which one can't just cram in by depicting them in flashbacks in some bizarre attempt to tie into two completely disconnected plotlines going on at the same time (*Cough* Season 2 *Cough*)

5.) The unneeded characters that I listed before will not be in the reboot (that includes the villains from seasons 2-4). This is a means of 'trimming the fat", so to speak, so that things won't get bogged down.

6.) I have an OC that will have an important part in the story. Before anyone groans and hits the back button, he’s not a love interest, and he most certainly won't steal Korra's thunder since she's still the main character (probably helps my character's a nonbender that doesn't even have prior combat training when he first meets her), but he's still important regardless. I won't reveal any more about him than that since I risk spoilers.

7.) There will be extensive research done on various martial art styles for the reboot's fight choreography. This even includes the styles of Kung fu that the four bending arts' traditional forms are based on, as I plan to depict Korra and other benders actually utilizing those styles without having to bend the corresponding elements. After all, bending's not just about the movements, it's also about having the elements 'bend' to your will.

I'll even use Samurai Jack, as well as various Hong Kong Action movies (especially those made by Jackie Chan) to further help with the fight choreography so that it has even more polish and impact when describing the fight scenes.

8.) I'll also give a better reason for why Korra struggles with airbending in the first book compared to the original (as it was fairly vague and poorly thought out), not to mention the way she'll unlock her airbending will be much more satisfactory and logical, while tieing into a particular scene from an episode of A:TLAB.

9.) Korra will keep her connection with her past lives, as severing it in the original version wasn’t just cruel, but it was completely unnecessary and senseless; much like how Amon briefly took away her bending in season 1. Doesn’t help that much like the latter, it was all the result of contrived and frankly poor writing (seriously, Bryke showed no understanding of how reincarnation even works when they made that decision, especially in regards to how her connection was severed).

10.) On another note? The level of power the Avatar State has, along with the lore that was clearly established in A:TLAB, will be firmly kept in tact. This means that when Korra activates it, a villain is NOT going to somehow just magically hold their own against her for the sake of the plot. It was a dumb idea to begin with, as it cheapens and degrades what is essentially the Avatar’s ‘god mode’. The Avatar State deserves to be treated with **far** more respect and grandness than it got in the original version of LoK. After all, this was the same Avatar State that had Ozai on the run (we all know how powerful he was when he was empowered by Sozin's Comet) and helped play a part in ending the 100 Year War. What especially will help is that like with Aang, Korra won’t even master it until somewhere around the third book.

11.) Given what I’ve said about the love triangle between Korra, Asami, and Mako, you’ve probably already figured out that there will be NO love triangles at all, as it’s one of the main issues that was holding the original series back. Doesn’t help that I’ve grown to loathe love triangles in general because they’re not only boring and eye-rollingly melodramatic, but they waste time by distracting from a main story. There’s always this "will they/won't they" element to them that I could care less about, since it's not what I come to watch various movies or tv shows for, especially if they happen to be action shows like the Avatar franchise.

But the biggest issue with love triangles is that they grow old PAINFULLY fast, and rely on a combination of poor communication and indecisiveness just to be ongoing.

Heck, putting in love triangles will even come at the huge risk of making characters come off as unlikable. Quite often, it’s usually in the form of the ones competing deciding to act in either spiteful or even downright jerk-ass ways over the center of the love triangle. Though it especially doesn’t help when the center of the triangle won’t even remotely attempt to make a choice and just opts to be an indecisive dolt!

In general, they’ve outstayed their welcome across various media, and it’s become more than clear that they need to die out.

~

While I have 'some' idea of how I want things in the story to go from beginning to end; I still have a lot of things that need to be planned out (that includes character and story progression).

It'll certainly take a lot of work, but that's just how it is with the creative process. After all, anything worth doing is worth doing right.

In my case, if putting in tons of time planing everything in regards to how I want everything to go means that it'll result in a satisfying story that helps LoK reach its true potential, then it'll be worth it.


	2. 2/25/21 Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something important to discuss

Now, I know there’s a possibility that those of you that are interested in the Reboot series I’m developing will likely want to let me know about something that happened on Twitter recently.

So before you say anything, let me get it out of the way. Yes, I’m well aware of the recent news that Nickelodeon will have a new movie and series set in A:TLAB, with a studio run by Bryke dedicated to making Avatar based content. 

That being said, I’m skeptical about this for a good reason:

1.) This is clearly a means for Nickelodeon to exploit and milk nostalgia, much like what they did with Fairly Oddparents and Spongebob. Heck even having a studio dedicated completely to something like Avatar feels excessive.

2.) Bryke had made it clear before they weren’t going to do anything more with the Avatar verse. And given they’ve dropped out of the live action reboot that Netflix is developing (due to creative disagreements and the people behind the show apparently not staying true to the spirit of the original A:TLAB), it’s hard not to see why. In fact, this could be why they agreed to do this for Nickelodeon. However, this frustrates me even more since the fact they’re going to Nickelodeon tells me they aren’t learning from what happened with the original version of LoK. The fact that they think Nickelodeon would treat them or their IP any better than Netflix is facepalm worthy.

3.) Keep in mind, this movie and series that was announced is being made post LoK. I don’t believe now is a good time to do this, considering it’s been like seven years since the original LoK ended (which is relatively too soon). If anything, since the original LoK was a rushed mess that contradicted the lore established in A:TLAB? What they should’ve done to begin with was to go back and FIX LoK so that it fits more with the canon of A:TLAB in a cohesive manner and was actually satisfying. That way, it would allow more leg room for either a continuing series or a prequel series (provided those also made sure to stick close to the lore established in A:TLAB). 

With all of this stated, this also brings up the reasons I will NOT acknowledge any of the ‘canon’ or events that occur in the new movie and series.

 **The First Reason:** Because like with the original LoK, Bryke obviously never planned this from the start, not to mention that they’re more than likely not going to get Aaron Ehasz back as head writer.

And as you may remember, while Bryke were the creators of A:TLAB, it was Aaron who was responsible for establishing the lore of that series, especially considering he was the show’s head writer (the other writers helped with their own contributions, but still). In fact, his absence was one of the biggest reasons WHY the original LoK’s writing had suffered (not to mention a reason why it’s not truly canon to the Avatar franchise despite what the creators have stated). As a result, I’m very hesitant to support this announcement

The only difference between the situation with LoK and this ‘new’ movie and series is that unlike with the original LoK, there’s an actual explanation for Aaron Ehasz’s absence. See, last I checked he’s a little too busy with a series he created called “The Dragon Prince” (I recommend checking it out by the way, it’s really good. Helps that the main character is voiced by Jack DeSana, Sokka’s voice actor). Considering how busy he is with planning out the rest of that franchise, I doubt that the Avatar crew would be able to to get him back. And unfortunately, that also means that it’ll likely result in adding more convolution and contradiction to the lore than the original LoK already did. Probably won’t help if it tries to shoehorn in bits and pieces trying to connect it to the original version of LoK

 **The Second Reason:** Adding onto the first reason I stated; by trying to fit the ‘canon’ of this new movie and series into the Reboot series? It would only complicate the development process. Aside from the movie and series not going to be canon anyway (for the reasons I’ve stated), it’s more than likely they won’t even fit with what I have in mind for the LoK Reboot series, especially considering I made the announcement for the Reboot well before Nickelodeon’s announcement on twitter.

With that being said, I want to stick to what I have in mind, and NOT let anything complicate things for me than necessary. That way, I can remain focused on actually telling the story I want.

~

Bonus Thoughts:

Speaking of what I have in mind for the LoK Reboot series?

One thing I should’ve mentioned in the previous ‘chapter’ of this journal is that the LoK Reboot is NOT going to be aimed at kids. I bring this up because I recall reading somewhere that supposedly the original LoK was aimed at teenagers. The problem with that is, well, I don’t see any evidence, especially given that for all the original LoK’s attempts to bring up some mature topics, they played it too safe and weren’t really able to do much given that the original airing of LoK was rated TV-Y7 while the Netflix airings were apparently rated TV-PG. The rushed pacing and ‘make stuff up as we go along’ approach to the writing wasn’t exactly doing the show any favors.

With that said, the reboot series will be getting the same treatment that the fifth season of Samurai Jack got (and the newer seasons of Young Justice of course), in that it’ll be aimed at older readers (meaning it’ll essentially have the equivalent of a TV-14 rating, as LoK should’ve been if it was going to be aimed at teenagers). By doing this, it’ll allow me to do what Bryke never could with the original LoK.

There will be blood (as in, characters actually **bleeding** ), there will be some cursing, there will be something of a further delve into how various criminal syndicates operate (including the triads of Republic City), and so on.

By doing this, I’ll be able have LoK actually go all the way with bringing in serious topics and darker aspects of life, though obviously I’ll have to make sure it’s still done in a cohesive and well thought out way. As I’ve quoted from Hunter S. Thompson before: 

“Anything worth doing is worth doing right”


End file.
